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You are reading an entry from the Ironic Sans archive. This entry was posted on February 27, 2006 and is filed under
Art,
Politics.

February 27, 2006

Michelangelo’s “David” meets David’s “George Bush”

While traveling on business through Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, I was struck by this statue of George Bush (the senior George Bush) in one of the terminals. What struck me was the eerie similarity between this statue and Michelangelo’s David.

The 8 foot tall George Bush was sculpted by David Adickes, the Houston artist whose busts of all the Presidents grace two different Presidents Parks.

I can’t help but wonder if the similarity is intentional. Michelangelo’s David depicts the second King of Israel, with a sling over his shoulder that he used to slay the giant Goliath of the Philistine army who threatened to destroy Israel. With that in mind, if Bush represents David, who represents Goliath in this scenario?

“Classical Contrapost (or Italian Classical Contrapposto) is a term most commonly used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more relaxed and less stiff appearance. It can also encompass the tension as a figure changes from resting on a given leg to walking or running upon it (so-called ponderation).”

It’s amazing - I was in the Louvre and in the basement where they have the Egyptian stuff - thought of the Pharoahs & that the Bush dynasty wants to be like that - then went to see some of the stuff from Louis XIV - they actually think they’re in the same league.

@chris sivori - well, it’s a wrong use of “Classical Contrapost” (aka “ponderatio polyclaetea”) in the Bush statue, as if it was correct it would be holding the book with the other hand, on the side of the leg that seems to bear the weight, and have the other arm holding whatever it is it’s holding over the shoulder… :)

Um… okay. The previous two comments were left by someone whose IP reveals that he’s using the gov.bc.ca domain. So someone in the Canadian government thinks I’m “stupoid,” calls himself “seymour butts” and has the improbable e-mail address lick_my_nuts_235 at one of the popular web-based e-mail sites. Does this Canadian government employee really have nothing better to do while at work?